


Over The Edge

by EmrysTheMerlin



Series: Heart and Soul [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Dragons: Defenders of Berk, Dragons: Riders of Berk, Gen, In my brain, New Riders, Race To The Edge, With my AU Fem Hiccup story, had a baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 10:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16910871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmrysTheMerlin/pseuds/EmrysTheMerlin
Summary: Three years after she left Berk Hiccup and the Riders of Dragon Island are venturing out into the unknown, beyond the archipelago. What will Hiccup, Heather and their friends find in the wild islands beyond their old lives? Can Hiccup build a permanent home away from the memory of the life she left behind?





	1. Out of the Archipelago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A group of outcasts heads off in hopes of a better world beyond the one they know.

           A small herd of dragons flew slowly towards the constant line of fog that surrounded the archipelago. There were five dragons in total each with a figure astride it. In the lead was a black dragon barely visible in the night sky. Its rider wore mostly black scaled armor with several other colors of scale mixing in. Her helm was in the likeness of a dragon, complete with spines running along the top seam. She held a map in her hands and was studying it intently. A slightly larger silver dragon flew up to be level with them. Its rider pulled down her face mask.

        “Hiccup are you sure about this?” Hiccup tilted up her helmet so she could see Heather’s face.

        “Heather when I am ever completely sure about anything?” Heather nodded contemplatively. “Look all I know is what Camicazi told me and what I learned from the Dragon Eye. There’s other dragons out there, whole new species that we’ve never seen before. You can’t tell me you don’t want to know about that, cause you’d be lying.” Heather smiled slightly and nodded as a yellow thornridge pulled up level with them.

       “So are we doing this or are we going back to Dragon Island?” His voice shook slightly as he wobbled on his dragon. His reins were in his left hand and his dragon was listing slightly to the left. Hiccup rolled up her map.

      “Ease up on those reins Daret, he’s a dragon not a yak. You’ve only been in the air a few weeks, he’s been up here his whole life, he knows more about flying than you do. Let him take the lead.” Daret nodded and eased up on the reins. There was a deep chuckle from behind them and Hiccup glared over her shoulder shaking her head at the slightly bulky Viking riding on the back of a snafflefang. “Leave the kid alone Arget. He’s still new.” Arget smiled wide, his muddy brown hair blowing in the breeze, his hazel eyes sparkling.

      “Wasn’t laughing at him, was remembering when I was still that much of a green wing.” There was a bark of laughter from Arget’s left. A teal and black shovelhelm glided there, his rider laughing loudly. This one was female with long wheat colored hair and deep brown eyes.

     “Keep laughing Danni, I still remember when you got started. Hammernose dragged you around by your foot for an hour.” That shut the girl up rather quickly. She cleared her throat and patted Hammernose on the back.

      “So are we really trusting Camicazi? Didn’t she try to kill you once? And where did she even get that Dragon Eye thing?” Hiccup smiled slightly remembering the first time she had met the slightly insane pirate girl.

      “Yes we’re trusting Camicazi, she’s the only person we know who’s actually been outside the archipelago. Yes, she did try once to kill me but it was over a misunderstanding and we worked it out eventually and I tend not to ask where she gets things, better if I just don’t know.” Hiccup patted Toothless on the head.

      " _Ready to go bud?"_  Toothless warbled a yes and they sped off into the fog followed by their fellow riders and dragons.

 

 

       It had been about three years since Hiccup had left Berk during her disaster of a final exam. She’d wandered the islands with Toothless and the dragons she’d freed from Berk for a year before going to confront the Red Death. She’d won the fight but lost a leg. The dragons had taken her to a nearby island where they had cared for her until she could leave again and she’d repaid them by showing them the truth about dragons. That was how she’d originally met Heather. Their second meeting had been far less happy since Hiccup had been just in time to save her from Dagur’s troops as they destroyed her island. They had wandered around the archipelago for another year together finding others who were like them, alone or outcast by their people for their differences. They had formed the dragon riders together and lived on Dragon Island for about a year now before Hiccup’s friend Camicazi had brought this interesting artifact to her attention. Several dragon riders had elected to stay behind in case there wasn’t anything out there, Hiccup would send word to them if they found anything.

 

 

      Rain beat down on Hiccup as they flew through the clouds into the unknown. They’d been flying for about an hour now and Hiccup was glad that the others weren’t complaining. They were all soaked to the bone and freezing but if Camicazi’s information was right then they would get out of this fog bank soon. Heather spotted it first and whistled at Hiccup pointing at a slightly brighter patch in the clouds. Hiccup nodded and swung her arm up to get everyone’s attention as lightning flashed behind them. She moved her arm forward and pointed to the brighter patch Heather had spotted. There were roars as the dragons acknowledged the signal and headed for the bright patch. In moments they had finally broken out of the patch of clouds and into a crystal clear night sky. There was a small island below them. The others let out loud cheers. Hiccup smiled over at Heather.

     

     “We did it! It’s real!” Heather grinned back at her friend. Hiccup had been getting restless over the past year staying on Dragon Island. Even with the other riders living there most of the time she had never really seen it as home. Heather knew she missed Berk, even if she would never admit it. She missed having family, a place to call her own that wasn’t a cave full of dragon bone. Though the other riders weren’t aware of their plan Hiccup and Heather had spoken at great length about building a community of riders, a village to call their own if they found islands outside the archipelago. Hiccup had her helmet pushed up and raised an eyebrow at Heather, her unofficial second in command.

     “Shall we set down there for the rest of the night?” Heather nodded and the riders headed towards the small island that rested just beyond the wall of fog. They landed and quickly set up camp. It didn’t take long for most of them to fall asleep but Hiccup sat away from the fire Arget and his dragon, Stonefang, had lit. Toothless was curled around his rider fast asleep but Hiccup sat awake watching the full moon set. There was the sound of footsteps from her left and Hiccup glanced up to see Heather sitting down next to her. She smiled slightly as her friend sat beside her just watching the moon set. Hiccup looked back at the sky wondering just what they would find out her in the great beyond. She heard a rustling from beside her and frowned slightly.

      “You know you can stare at that thing forever but it’s never gonna answer your questions.” Heather smiled sadly as she glanced up from the horn in her hands, the only relic she had left from her birth parents. It was quite a mystery, especially because Hiccup had been able to identify the chiefs crest imprinted on the horn as her father’s. She had never seen the horn before though and Heather had very few memories of her younger years. The conclusion they had jumped to was that it was likely that Heather was Stoic’s illegitimate daughter, the product of a brief love affair he would have had after Hiccup’s mother had been carried off by dragons. Heather was just the right age for this to be true, only a year and a half younger than Hiccup. However, Hiccup had no memory of any other woman in their house but Stoic was a chief, he traveled quite a bit. Hiccup had no problem telling Heather that she could go to Berk to find out the truth if she wanted but Hiccup couldn’t bring herself to return there. Heather had heard enough stories about Berk to know that she would not enjoy it if she went and, though she would never tell Hiccup this, she was scared that she wouldn’t be related to her friend. So the two girls left the mystery just that, at least for now. Heather put the horn away and smiled at her friend who was staring off into the sky again.

     “What are you thinking about cloud brain?” Hiccup laughed slightly at the playful insult.

     “Not much. Just wondering if maybe we can all finally have a place to belong, you know?” Heather nodded. Though her village had accepted her for who she was Hiccup’s had never done that for her, to the point where it had taken her almost two years to actually get close to the older girl. Hiccup smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder.

     “Let’s get some sleep Heather. We’ve got exploring to do tomorrow.” With that Hiccup curled up under Toothless’ wing and fell asleep. Heather grinned running a finger over the chief seal carved into the horn at her side. Even if Stoic the Vast hadn’t been proud to call Hiccup family Heather was proud that it was even possible that she was related to the amazing woman at her side.


	2. Imperfect Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many things are set on fire.

            “Well that could have gone better.” Hiccup sighed, trapped in amber by a dragon that sang to lure in other dragons, not how she had wanted to start this day. She was stuck facing Toothless who was also stuck from his neck down and looking quite miffed about it. Hiccup tried to move again t no avail. The Death Song hadn’t listened to her when she’d tried talking to it. Most dragons were at least curious when a human could speak their language. The Death Song was just hungry. The name was Arget’s idea. Hiccup was on the fence about it but they could talk about it later when they weren’t in imminent danger of being eaten.

 

            “Any ideas? I’m throwing it open to the group!” Heather scoffed at her friend and tried to once again wiggle free from Windshear’s back.

 

            “I got nothing.” Arget sighed.

 

            “Hate to say it but I’m with Heather on this one.” Hiccup glanced over at Danni who shook her head. Daret was stuck to the side of Skyclaw and looked like he was hyperventilating. Hiccup whistled, catching Daret’s attention.

 

            “Deep breath Daret. We’ve been through worse and lived. Deep breath and think.” Daret took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down as Heather raised an eyebrow at Hiccup, who couldn’t see her.

 

            “Name one time, other than the Red Death, that we’ve been in a situation worse than this.” Hiccup tried to glare at Heather but wasn’t able to look at her friend from where she’d fallen. She cleared her throat.

 

            “Second time we met, and oh I don’t know, Alvin!” Heather stiffened as much as was possible as an image of Hiccup, about a year younger than she was now, beaten and broken bound on her knees flashed across her mind.

 

            “Low blow Haddock.” Hiccup blew a raspberry at her friend. Daret was back to hyperventilating.

 

            “There’s no way out of here! Once this stuff cools off its as hard as gronkle iron!” Hiccup whistled at him again as an idea sparked in her brain.

 

            “Wait say that again Daret!” Daret was busy trying to breathe so Danni, who had fallen over near Hammernose, obliged.

 

            “There’s no way out of here?” Hiccup shook her head.

 

            “No the other part!” Arget raised an eyebrow.

 

            “As hard as gronkle iron?” Hiccup shook her head again and she and Heather spoke at the same time.

 

            “Once it cools!” Heather smiled at their newest recruit.

 

            “Daret you’re a genius!” Daret paused in his hyperventilation to stare at Heather. “What?” Hiccup laughed slightly.

 

            “Can you blame him, that’s the first compliment you’ve ever given him Heather. You’re very intimidating.” Hiccup ignored Heather’s retort as she met Toothless’s eyes with her own.

 

            “ _No I know that look, that’s your bad idea look!”_ Hiccup made an indignant noise that drew the attention of the other riders, though she continued to ignore them in favor of her dragon.

 

            “ _Bad idea look! This is not my bad idea look!”_ Toothless rolled his eyes at her.

 

            “ _Last time you had it we took on the entirety of Outcast Island by ourselves and got captured. The time before that you lost a leg!”_ Hiccup pouted slightly.

 

            “ _It’s not my bad idea look, it’s my no other options look. There is a difference.”_ Toothless sighed.

 

            “ _Ok so what’s your bad idea this time?”_ Ignoring the back sass Hiccup cleared her throat.

 

            “ _I need you to shoot me.”_ Toothless roared in disbelief.

 

            “ _Listen to me Toothless! Shoot the amber, it’ll break apart. It’s only hard when it’s cool, heat it back up and it’ll be brittle just like with badly forged metal.”_ Toothless shook his head slightly and warbled quietly.

 

            “ _I can’t shoot you. What if I miss?”_ Hiccup smiled at him.

 

            “ _You have to. You won’t miss bud. But we don’t do this and we all die.”_ The other dragons, who had all been listening in on them warbled in agreement and Stonefang rumbled at Toothless.

 

            “ _You don’t do it and I will.”_ Toothless hissed at Stonefang and nodded at Hiccup. Heather was still tense, she didn’t speak dragoneese so she had no idea what Hiccup was planning but knowing her it was stupid and reckless. Then she spotted Toothless over Hiccups head. He was charging a plasma bolt. Heather’s eyes widened and she almost screamed as the blast was fired and Hiccup disappeared in a plume of smoke.

 

 

            Seconds later the smoke cleared and Heather stared at the spot her friend, her sister, had been moments before. Now there were only shards of the amber substance scattered around. Heather looked up to scream at Toothless for killing her only family but stopped when she spotted Hiccup rummaging through the barely accessible saddle bag on Toothless’s saddle. Hiccup hummed triumphantly and pulled out a bottle Heather didn’t recognize. She poured some of the green substance out onto the amber encasing Toothless and creating a thin line between that encasing and Daret’s before moving on to Danni, then Arget and finally Heather. Heather raised an eyebrow at the smell of the gel coming from the jar.

 

            “Is that monstrous nightmare saliva?” Hiccup nodded and carefully trailed it back in front of Toothless. Daret’s eyes widened.

 

            “Wait! You’re gonna set us on fire!” Hiccup refused to meet his eyes.

 

            “Oh it doesn’t even hurt, kinda tickles actually.” Toothless laughed at her as she finished the line.

 

            “ _You are lying through your teeth aren’t you?”_ Hiccup grinned slightly.

 

            “ _Why yes, yes I am.”_ Daret narrowed his eyes at her.

 

            “What did you just say?” Hiccup ignored him.

 

            “Light it up Toothless, before the Death Song gets back.” Daret stammered as the other riders braced themselves. Toothless lit up the line of gel and soon they all sprang free of the now brittle amber substance. There was a shriek and Hiccup mounted Toothless.

 

            “Free the other dragons! Toothless and I will take care of the Death Song!” Without another word to the riders they took off. Daret brushed himself off as Skyclaw licked his hair to put out a few errant flames.

 

            “That didn’t tickle.”

 

 

 

          Soon the other dragons were free and the Death Song was trapped in a cave thanks to the help of a wild Thunderdrum. They landed back at the site they had been captured and Hiccup grinned at Daret who was glaring.

 

            “Oh come on it wasn’t that bad!” Daret glared.

 

            “You set us on fire! Am I the only one angry about this!?” He looked around as the others nodded.

 

            “Yeah pretty much greenwing. I get set on fire on a weekly basis.” Arget said brushing of Stonefang’s scales. Heather nodded.

 

            “It’s pretty much a rite of passage in the riders. We’ve got a count of how many times we’ve got set on fire. I’m at six.” Danni brushed amber out of her hair.

 

            “Eight.” Arget raised his hand.

 

            “Twelve!” Daret glanced at Hiccup.

 

            “Twenty-seven, now twenty-eight. The goal is to have the fewest times. I will never win this game since I have several years of dragon training a nightmare under my belt. Setting things on fire is their way of showing affection.” Daret thought for a second.

 

            “So I’m wining?” Hiccup nodded, kneeling down and gathering some of the amber into the bag on Toothless’s saddle.

 

            “So far. Expect to be set on fire at least twice this week though, Heather’s a sore loser.” Heather raised an eyebrow at Hiccup who shrugged. “Camicazi loves new stuff. The shinier the better.” Heather chuckled.

 

            “You really like being on her good side.” Hiccup nodded.

 

            “Yes I do, I’ve been on her bad one and most don’t make it off that side so I consider myself lucky. We should find another island though. Daret, since you gave me the idea that got us free how about you pick the next one? Any objections?” The other riders shook their heads. Hiccup smiled as they mounted up and took off under the light of a midday sun. 

 

 


	3. When Darkness Falls: A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Island is reached, Hiccup begins a tale of her adventures before the Riders.

            “I am so sorry! I should have crossed this island off the list!” Hiccup would have laughed if they weren’t running for their lives from wild boars. The dragons were waiting for them off the cliffs and Arget and Danni, who were running ahead of them, dove off the cliff. Daret paused going pale. Hiccup dodged between the trees and grabbed Daret’s arm and yanked him forwards towards the cliff. Heather was bringing up the rear with her axe in hand. She was the only one who hadn’t left their weapon on their dragon. Hiccup knew she’d get an earful about that later.

 

            “Don’t think about it, just do it. Unless you wanna get gored by wild boars.” Daret went even more pale as they reached the end of the cliff. He almost paused but Heather shoved him from behind sending him sprawling off the edge of the cliff as she and Hiccup dove after him.

 

            “That was a bit unnecessary wasn’t it Heather?” Heather shrugged as their dragons caught them and they flew off. Daret was glaring at Heather.

 

            “He wouldn’t have jumped otherwise. We both know that.” Hiccup tried to hold in a laugh. Danni didn’t even bother holding back.

  

            “They have a very different approach to teaching Daret. Heather is very hands on, and violent. Hiccup is supportive and sneaky.” Hiccup nodded as Toothless flew up to be level with Skyclaw.

 

            “It’s true and hey at least she didn’t set you on fire right?” Daret frowned deeply.

 

            “I’m honestly not sure which is worse.”  Hiccup laughed as they flew off to the next island. Several islands and many close calls later they landed on an island made mostly made of cliffs. After a few fly arounds they picked a secluded cove on the far side of the island. It was easily defendable and large enough that even if they all decided to build houses here there would still be room for everyone else that they had left back on Dragon Island. The interior of the cove would make the perfect port for the few ships they would ever have visiting. The area was easily defendable and there was easy access to fresh water and firewood. Heather looked around.

 

            “This is perfect Hiccup! Easily defendable, not easily seen from the water. Far enough out that any patrol we send will see ships coming long before they get here. We build a few guard houses around the island and we can set up here.” Hiccup nodded, neither girl had noticed the others behind them.

 

            “What’s all this about setting up? I mean I know we need an outpost cause we are way too far to fly back to Dragon Island but you two sound like you aren’t planning on going back any time in the near future.” Hiccup folded up the map and slipped it back into its compartment on her armor.

 

            “You are entirely correct Arget. Heather and I talked about this for a while, we both want a new start for reasons neither of us feels like discussing. This is the perfect opportunity to do just that.” Danni raised an eyebrow.

 

            “And you didn’t tell us this why?” Hiccup avoided everyone’s eyes and Heather placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

            “Listen, all of you have family or friends back in the archipelago. Hiccup and I, we don’t.” That made every rider present freeze, Heather had never shared any information about her past with anyone but Hiccup before. Hiccup scratched Toothless on the head.

 

            “For our own reasons we don’t want to stay in the archipelago anymore. So we decided to find a new place. One where we could start all over.” Heather nodded fingering the mask that hung slack around her neck.

 

            “Somewhere we don’t have to hide anymore.” Hiccup nodded as Heather wrapped an arm around Hiccup’s shoulder. Daret stepped over to them.

 

            “Alright, where do we get started?” Hiccup looked up at him, slight dampness in her eyes.

 

            “What?” Danni stepped up to Daret.

 

            “The kid’s right. We riders stick together. Where do we start?” Hiccup laughed as Danni pulled her in for a hug. Soon they were all wrapped up in a group hug while the dragons watched their odd human interactions. Hiccup wiped her eyes as they broke the hug and Toothless nuzzled her side.

 

            “Alright, first things first. We need to contact Greta and Uric back on Dragon Island.” Arget raised an eyebrow at her.

 

            “And how do we do that?” Hiccup grinned and patted the second saddle bag on Toothless’s saddle. There was a grumble from the bag and a terrible terror stuck his head out of the leather bag and yawned. Danni laughed.

 

            “You brought Sharpshot?” Hiccup nodded pulling the small dragon out of the bag.

 

            “How else was I going to contact them?” Hiccup pulled a slip of paper and a small piece of charcoal out of the other saddle bag while Sharpshot lay around her shoulders like a scarf. She spun Daret around and used his back as a desk as the others laughed. Danni walked around in front of him.

 

            “She does this to everyone, don’t take it personally.” Hiccup rolled her eyes as she finished writing the note to the other two riders and quickly included a hastily drawn map. Then she rolled up the note and scratched Sharpshot under the chin as she slipped the note into a compartment on his collar.

 

            “ _Alright little guy, I need you to take this note to Greta or Uric. They are on Dragon Island. I also need you to talk to Hookfang for me. Tell him to come with you back here, he needs to bring Meatlug, Barf, Belch and Stormfly. I’ll need their help to build this place the way I have planned. Got all that?”_ Sharpshot nodded and took off after one last scratch on the head.

 

            “That takes care of that. Let’s set up camp for the night.” Everyone agreed and gathered around the fire that Hammernose had lit. They couldn’t sleep though, too excited at the prospect of a new place to call home so instead of sleeping they sat around telling stories, each attempting to outdo each other.

 

            “And then they turned around and saw the man with the hook hand standing behind them!” Daret paused for dramatic effect hoping to see the terrified faces of his fellow riders instead they were trying to hold back laughter. Hiccup rolled her eyes as Daret’s hands fell to his sides, disappointment written all over his face. “Oh come on nothing?” The others shook their heads.

 

            “Nope, decent try though, but we all know someone who’s missing a limb. She’s not that scary.” Danni gestured at Hiccup who stuck her tongue out at the other girl. Heather scoffed.

 

            “You’ve clearly never seen her truly angry. It is a terrifying sight.” Daret nodded remembering the flames in her eyes as she’d faced off against Alvin on his island while her dragons saved him and as many people from his island as they could.

 

            “Seriously Hiccup is scary when she’s angry.” Heather nodded turning the fish she had over the fire so it cooked evenly.

 

            “She is even scarier when she’s backed into a corner. Oh the stories I could tell you.” Hiccup rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her own fish. Arget leaned forward grinning wide.

 

            “Why don’t you? I mean I’ve known you for a year now and I don’t know much about you, Hiccup. I know we aren’t supposed to talk about the whole chief’s daughter thing.” Hiccup nodded, violently biting into the fish and tearing a chunk out of it so she wouldn’t have to speak. “So tell us a different story. Either of you! If we’re going to live together in our own kind of town we need to know more about our fearless leader.” Hiccup chewed thoughtfully and swallowed before answering.

 

            “You’re right Arget. It’s not fair that you guys know almost nothing about me and still consider me a leader, let alone a friend. Ask me anything. Anything at all.” Arget raised an eyebrow at Hiccup while Daret settled back down next to Skyclaw. Danni speared another fish onto a stick and handed it to Arget.

 

            “Alright, tell us about the first time you faced down Alvin and Dagur.” Hiccup chuckled darkly.

 

            “You’re gonna have to pick one of those people or be very confused. They didn’t always work together. I know they did last time we met them but I don’t see that lasting long. Dagur doesn’t play well with others.” Arget turned his fish in the fire as he thought for a moment.

 

            “Alright Alvin then!” Hiccup nodded, her mouth full of fish again. Heather looked thoughtful.

 

            “I don’t think even I’ve heard this one yet.” Hiccup grinned as Toothless sighed in his sleep.

 

            “You haven’t. You never really asked. I suppose it all loops back around to my father, Stoic the Vast. He was the one who banished Alvin after all. To this day I have no idea why he did that. But Alvin holds grudges, I’ll tell you that.” Hiccup stared into the fire as she remembered that fateful day.


	4. When Darkness Falls: Campfire Tales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Riders learn that Hiccup is craftier than any of them gave her credit for.

 

            “So this story actually starts the second time I met Heather.” Heather smiled at her friend as she thought back to that time.

 

            “The people on her island had helped save my life so I helped them make peace with the dragons, helped them make friends with the dragons, just like I did. Heather was the only one who really took to the idea of being a dragon rider but apparently word of what I was doing got around pretty quick. But not everyone on her island liked the idea of living with dragons, so long story short I got booted off the island along with the dragons. But apparently he’d already heard about me through someone or another, still don’t know who though. Back then I didn’t have the helmet, part of the reason I made it was to hide who I am. To protect the people I left behind. I didn’t want my actions to hurt them when I didn’t really have anything to do with them anymore. So I moved on to the next island, which lucky me was empty, Trader Johan stopped by but I’d figured out a way to hide my face by then, the same way Heather does it now.” Hiccup fingered her helmet as she avoided eye contact with the others.

 

            “Outcast Island is riddled with wild dragon nests. They don’t get along with the outcasts any more than anyone else does. But when Alvin heard about the dragon conqueror he got interested, very interested. And that can be very dangerous for the one he’s interested in.” Hiccup laughed slightly rubbing her false leg.

 

            “He caught me while I was on a supply run on Rachlet. He’d been given a basic description so he found me pretty easily. Couldn’t really believe what he saw though, keep in mind I was about a foot shorter back then and well to put it delicately, underdeveloped. There’s a reason my name is Hiccup after all, I was always the runt of the litter even though, as far as I know, I’m Stoic’s only child.” She exchanged a quick glance with Heather before both girls looked back at the dying fire. Heather tapped Windshear on the back and she shot a blast of fire reigniting the camp fire.

 

            “Toothless and the others were waiting for me back on Dragon Island so I ended up tricking Alvin into taking me to Dragon Island and blew up his ship, and got away with the dragons. But he hasn’t stopped trying to get his hands on me since.” Hiccup looked up and saw the others staring at her wide eyed.

 

            “You tricked Alvin the Treacherous?!” Hiccup rubbed absently on a spot of dirt on her metal leg.

 

            “It sounds bad when you say it like that.” Heather laughed.

 

            “I am so proud of you.” Hiccup yawned and rolled her eyes.

 

            “And on that happy note I am gonna get some sleep. Who’s taking first watch?” There was a chorus of not me’s from around the fire but unfortunately for him Daret sounded off last. He scowled as the others laid down with their dragons to sleep for the night. Hiccup yawned again.

 

            “Wake me up in a few hours and I’ll take over.” Daret nodded and watched the fire for a while.

 

            About an hour into his watch he heard something moving in the forest. He stood nudging Skyclaw awake and motioning for him to follow behind as he investigated the sound.

 

            Hiccup woke up to the sound of a loud scream coming from the forest. She shot to her feet, snatching her shield off Toothless. It was quite an interesting piece of work. She had created it herself, there were quite a few tricks and hidden secrets, much like Hiccup herself. She was still bleary eyed and couldn’t quite focus on the figure running into their camp but the large yellow blur she recognized as Skyclaw and lowered her shield.

 

            “Daret? What’s wrong?” Hiccup rubbed her eyes as Toothless warbled in concern for the girl.

 

            “I’m fine bud, just not awake. Daret you look like you’ve seen a troll.” Daret caught his breath and waved his hands in an expressive gesture.

 

            “Dragon! Big! Huge! Dragon, never seen it before!” That got everyone’s attention. The sleepy riders mounted their dragons and flew off to investigate.

 


	5. When Darkness Falls: Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Riders begin building, their efforts are interrupted by a raid two of their number pull on Viggo's men.

            Hiccup grinned at the small white dragon that sat upon the stand built for him. Unlike his fellow Nightwatchers he seemed to need much less sleep. They had yet to decide on a name for him but the species name had been a group effort. She’d spoken to the leader, the ‘eye’ of the large dragon that the smaller ones made up when they hunted or flew, and explained that they meant no harm to the dragons or the island. They had made fast friends and the Nightwatchers had agreed to help the riders guard their home from invaders, or at least keep a lookout. Hiccup didn’t like the idea of the small dragons getting dragged into their fights but they seemed to be more pack based and had accepted the riders and their dragons as members of their pack. With the dragons help it didn’t take too long to start setting up their base. Each rider had their own home. Greta and Uric were courting but they still felt more comfortable at the moment at least living in their own homes for now. They had arrived two days ago. Danni and Heather were on patrol. Hookfang breathed fire over the rocks Meatlug had brought melting them together into the shape Hiccup had wanted. Her forge was coming along nicely. She wiped sweat from her brow and picked up her hammer. She nodded at Stormfly who shot several spines into the wood. Hiccup thanked the deadly nadder and began to hammer away at the spikes using them to hold together the boards for one of her zany inventions. It would hopefully streamline the saddle making process. Daret’s horn sounded and Hiccup glanced up and whistled for Toothless leaping off the outcropping in the middle of the circle of half built houses. She landed on Toothless and they flew off to meet the others at the beach.

 

            Heather was there waiting, Danni and her dragon were approaching the beach dragging a badly damaged boat that seemed to have at least seven people on it. They all looked a bit odd. Their skin was heavily tanned or burned like they’d spent far too long in the sun and they all had haunted looks in their eyes. Danni beached the ship easily and landed next to the others. Hiccup dismounted easily. She was in her simple brown tunic and breaches. She patted Toothless on the nose to reassure the dragon and stepped forwards with the other riders. Heather stepped up to Hiccups right side. 

            “We ran across Viggo’s men trying to sell them. We couldn’t let them get away with it. We weren’t followed I made sure of that.” Hiccup nodded at her friend. She smiled at the liberated slaves and spoke.

             “Welcome, my name is Hiccup.” One of the two men in the group stepped forwards. He was a few inches taller than Hiccup’s own five feet with hair darker than hers and skin of a much more olive tone. He spoke, though it was slightly broken like he didn’t know the language very well. 

            “Hiccup? My name is William. Who is the leader here?” The other riders who understood immediately pointed to Hiccup as one. Hiccup rolled her eyes.

             “I guess that would be me. You are all welcome to stay here as long as you need or want. We have fresh food and water back at the village. We mean you no harm. We want to help in any way we can.” William turned to the others and translated into a language Hiccup was unfamiliar with. It seemed that none of the riders spoke it. Many of the freed slaves were glancing nervously at the dragons who were starting to get curious. William turned back to Hiccup.

             “What of the beasts?” Hiccup shook her head.

             “These are no beasts. They are dragons. They are our friends and allies. They mean you no harm either. Here I’ll show you. Toothless come on over bud.” Toothless slowly crept over. Hiccup held out a hand to William who was hesitant at first but extended his hand to her. She carefully let Toothless sniff his hand and then nuzzle it. It was an easy way to introduce people to dragons but it was also an easy way to weed out the untrustworthy from the others. Dragons seemed to be able to smell bad intentions on people. The other freed slaves began to slowly inch forwards as William smiled and spoke to them. The riders escorted them to the partially built town.

 

 

            It took several hours for them to settle in. Hiccup offered her own home to the refugees. It was one of the only complete buildings in town. She’d assured William that she would be fine sleeping with the dragons. Greta was the most skilled healer out of the riders and with William’s help she began to treat the injured and sick among the seven people who had been rescued. Heather and Hiccup made their way back to the half-built forge. 

            “Are you sure about this Hiccup?” Hiccup stepped over Barf’s tail. 

            “What would you want me to do Heather? Set them out to drift? I’m not gonna do that. We can help them here. And we’re not handing them back to Viggo.” Heather nodded, she really couldn’t argue with that. They’d only encountered him in person once. He didn’t seem to venture into the archipelago often but he was in the business of trafficking in both dragons and people. The Riders had been undermining his operations for about a year now and he hadn’t been too happy about it. A loud whistle drew their attention back across the tiny town. It was Danni who’d been waiting for Uric to come back from his patrol. Toothless and Windshear scooped up their riders and they made their way to the west grotto entrance to the village.  He too was dragging a bedraggled ship behind him but this one didn’t hold people. This one appeared to be packed with supplies. Uric grinned pulling down his mask and pulling off his hood. 

            “Look what I managed to lift off Viggo’s men!” Heather laughed and Hiccup grinned. 

            “Quite the bad day for Viggo.”

 

 

           It took about two hours to divvy up all the supplies. They proved most useful to the injured and sick of the freed slaves. The riders tore the boat apart when they were finished unloading it, using it for building material. William stepped out of Hiccup’s house in time to see Hiccup leap from one of the struts of the now destroyed boat to the roof of the house they were finishing up and secure it in place with some of Stormfly’s spikes and her hammer. She smiled and waved at him.

            “This place is unlike anything I have ever seen. What do you call it?” Hiccup shrugged at him.

             “We don’t really have a name for it yet. But we should really get around to that.” William nodded.

             “This is more than any of us ever expected to see. Most of us… we never expected to be free of Viggo and his men.” Hiccup nodded slightly. She hopped onto Hookfangs foot and the monstrous nightmare sat her down gently on the ground. William still looked a bit on edge around the dragons but there was awe in his eyes. “Some of the others were talking. They were hoping to find a way to go back home. But I saw no boats in your harbor.” Hiccup shook her head.

             “Not much of a harbor honestly, we don’t usually need boats but we can make them. We’ll need a lot more timber than we have though. We can gather that easily enough. I’ll talk to the other riders, it would still be at least two weeks before we will be able to finish any boats though.” William nodded.

            “Thank you. I haven’t met someone as kind as you in a very long time.” Hiccup nodded slightly thinking of Viggo. She led William into a cave at the edge of one of the cliffs that surrounded the valley they had settled in. She gestured him inside and he hesitated slightly. Hiccup nodded. 

            “Sorry, understandably nervous. Toothless light a torch would you?” The dragon, who had been silently following them this whole time did as she asked lighting up the room inside the cave. It was adorned with maps of all different sizes, a small tanning frame sat in the corner a skin drying in it. “I wanted to ask you a few questions if you’re willing to answer them.” William nodded.

             “Absolutely, any way I can help.”


End file.
